“This is the kind of bait that gives you goose bumps,” says Rapala Director of Field Promotions Mark Fisher, who helped dream up and design the RipStop. “It’s a cross between a swimbait and a jerking, twitching bait that suspends.”

“Those characteristics and the new bait’s ability to “stop on a dime” make the RipStop unique,” says Brandon Palaniuk, a seven-time Bassmaster Classic competitor. “If you watch a live baitfish swim around, it’s often in a stop-and-go type of motion. This bait has that ability to stop right on the spot.”

“The ability to stop and suspend is the missing link that swimbaits don’t have,” Fisher explains. “And Rapala has that. The lure comes to a fast stop, almost as if it’s making a collision. And it doesn’t go out of the strike zone — it stays right in front of the fish. That is the integral part of this whole philosophy.”

Also integral is the RipStop’s unique hard-plastic-boot tail, which creates what Fisher describes as a “hard-rolling, slashing action” that mimics the live-minnow moves of a soft-plastic swimbait. “But it’s not a hybrid,” he says. “It’s not incorporating soft plastics into the element of the bait. It’s a hard bait with a soft-bait action.”

“We’ve never had a hard bait with a boot tail molded into it like that,” says Tharp, a four-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier. “That feature of the bait creates its unique action.”

“RipStops can be fished as a twitch bait, popped and ripped like a jerkbait, cast and retrieved at a steady retrieve, or with modifying your speed or cadence,” Fisher says. They feature Rapala’s new Dual Control System design, which enhances action by offering greater stability and unbelievable control at any speed.

They suspend with a very slow, heads-up rise on the pause, shimmying slightly before coming to rest. “I’ve never seen anything like that,” Tharp says.

Although soft-plastic boot-tail swimbaits elicit bites well on the retrieve, many sink like a stone when paused, scaring off fish still considering whether to commit. The RipStop’s ability to stop, suspend and then resume swimming will convert lookers into biters.

“The only problem with a swimbait is when you get a negative fish that comes up behind it, there are times when they’ll just bump it,” Fisher explains. “And most often, it happens with soft plastics. But when anglers get that bump-bump on a RipStop, they know they’re going to make that fish bite. They’re going to catch it with the treble hook.”

Weighing ¼ of an ounce, RipStops cast far with little effort and dive up to 3 feet. Featuring modified flat-sided bodies, they cut easily through the water and give off maximum flash. Their two-part plastic construction includes non-inserted lips. Containing no rattles, they swim silently. RipStops come armed with two sticky-sharp, light-wire VMC® Treble Hooks. They measure 9 centimeters and are available in 14 color patterns.

For the best results, fish RipStops on a spinning rod spooled with 6- to 10-pound-test Sufix® 832 Advanced Superline® braid tipped with an 8- to 10-pound-test leader of Sufix Invisiline 100 percent Fluorocarbon.

“Anglers want a supple line that’s going to allow that bait to really get its action,” Palaniuk says.

Tharp agrees. “The lighter the line the better,” he says. “It’s going to allow that bait to do what it’s designed to do – give it more of a natural appearance.”